Ripples
by Igetboredeasy
Summary: Dumping ground for one shots, interludes, side stories and such that take place in and during Ripple Effect. This will be updated sporadically as new 'chapters' will be added as I think of them or if there is a scene that I just couldn't work in the story or something I glossed over but wanted to expand, etc and will be of various lengths
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. **Okay, so this is going to be my dump ground for one shots, interludes, side stories and such that take place in and during Ripple Effect. This will be updated sporadically as new 'chapters' will be added as I think of them or if there is a scene that I just couldn't work in the story or something I glossed over but wanted to expand, etc and will be of various lengths. Each chapter won't necessarily be in chronological order but the dates they take place in will be stated. Maybe someday I can come back and put it all in chronological order once it's complete.

**(Early June of 2003)**

It was completely Malcolm's fault and for a bit, Petunia had wondered if she should nip the friendship her nephew had with him in the bud if this was the result of their sleepovers. At first, she hadn't known that anything untoward had happened. Not until she caught both her son and nephew in the hall peering into their rooms from around the corner with utmost concentration. The only time she saw the boys like that where they had no idea what was taking place around them was when they were absorbed in their shows.

"Ned, Dudders? What-"

"Shhhh!" Dudley immediately shushed his mother without looking at her, causing the woman's eyes to widen in indignation. "I beg your pardon!"

Both boys realized their mistake and quickly scrambled to their feet as they faced the woman. Ned's hands immediately fisted in the hem of his shirt as he fidgeted while Dudley's wide eyes stared at his mother then to the room and back. Both stuttered trying to think of what to say and explain before they both quieted at the look she gave them. They knew they were supposed to talk one at a time and both of them were looking at each other trying to figure out who would speak first. Ned kept twisting his shirt and Dudley began to rock on his heels as he didn't want to be the one to tell his mother what was in their minds.

"Dudley? Ned?"

"We were tryin' to catch 'em movin'." Was the answer Petunia eventually got from her nephew who didn't look her in the eye.

"Trying to catch what?" She wondered hoping that he wasn't telling her that they had brought in some animal without her or Vernon knowing. While it hadn't been explicitly stated, it was understood that there would be no pets. Not at Vernon's current level at work nor with how young the boys were as it was a fools bet that the bulk of the care of an animal would fall to either herself or Vernon.

There was a hesitance before Dudley admitted, "The toys."

Petunia blinked then stared at the boys with a puzzled expression. It came out that while they had slept over at Malcolm's the boy had put on the movie Toy Story which was about toys that were alive and moved about when their owner wasn't looking or around. _This _was why she and Vernon were particular about what the boys watched. As children they had active imaginations and while it was a good thing and helped them be productive and inventive, such thoughts as thinking toys could come alive were best nipped in the bud. Especially if it gave her nephew ideas as it seemed to have. Thankfully he hadn't decided to make them move on his own and hopefully wouldn't!

Sighing, she stared at the boys then they retreated to the sitting room where she sat the boys down to find out how much they knew between fiction and reality. Swinging his feet as he sat at the edge of his chair, Ned admitted that he knew that his train show wasn't real nor was some of the other things the boys watched but the football matches were real and so was the news. "And what of your space wars?"

"Star Wars!" Dudley corrected before ducking his head at his mother's look.

"You know that that is made up, don't you?"

"Yes," both boys stated as if that was obvious. After she asked why they were so sure Petunia wasn't sure exactly what to think or how to feel about her son's reply when he'd scoffed and said, "'Cause they don't have camera's in space!"

Ned bit his lip and didn't correct his cousin having known they _did_ have camera's in space but not like the kind Dudley was thinking of. When he felt generous, Vernon had allowed his nephew on the computer to look up the site to watch space camera's and look at the different pictures they had of the solar systems. Pouting, when his cousin shook his head, Dudley thought hard and then shrugged. Petunia looked to her nephew who guessed, "Space ships?" He knew they had shuttles, but not actual fighting ships.

"Anything else?" She pressed.

"Laser swords," Dudley stated warming up to the discussion. Seeing that his mother wanted more, he thought about what else was make believe. "Different planets?" He wasn't really interested in things like space really, that was more Ned's interest but he knew that Earth was the only populated planet.

Chewing his lip as his feet swung back and forth, Ned thought hard and titling his head he wondered, "The Force?"

While he'd thought it was neat to have, he knew that his aunt and uncle hadn't really liked the movies because of that. Anything strange that couldn't be explained was something that made them uncomfortable. Looking up at his aunt he felt a small smile cross his face flushing with pride that he'd answered her question correctly.

The boys also ended up on having a lesson on what constituted as 'alive' and not. While they had gotten the gist of it, Dudley ended up confused and Petunia wondered if she should have just given up and let the boys be. Dudley was all for giving up eating his vegetables and greens when he found out plants were alive; after he got over the horror that he was eating something that might be alive. It was all the incentive Petunia needed not to broach the subject of meat with the boy. That was a struggle she would happily put off until he was older.

After she was sure that she had gotten through to the boys, she was about to get up to finish the laundry when Ned stopped her by asking, "What about magic?"

"What?" She may have replied with a bit more irritation then she'd meant to as her nephew ducked his head quickly.

"In mum's letters..." He hesitantly stated before trailing off.

"What about them?"

"Would magic make 'em move?" At his aunt's pursed lips, the boy's hands went to the hem of his shirt worrying it.

"Have you tried making them move that way?"

Green eyes went wide at the thought and he shook his head emphatically. Maybe his mum and dad had magic but he didn't. To his knowledge he wouldn't know or be able to use magic unless he went to magic school. In all the books that was how it went too. While he thought it would be neat to have some stuff move, he didn't think he wanted his toys running around. Dudley had thought it would be brilliant. Dudley wasn't that big a reader though and hadn't seen Gulliver's Travels. He _had_ seen Small Soldiers though when Dennis had snuck it to his room to watch. All Edward would have to do was remind him of that movie and he was sure that Dudley wouldn't want his toys running around either. While his aunt had caught him prodding his toys and not wanting to be in the same room with them alone for a bit after that, she'd never caught on to why.

Nodding in approval, she had him come outside and help her hang the clothing on the line. Of course while they were doing that it came out about the other movie that caused his aunt to give him a disapproving look. He didn't have to tell her that he'd watched through his fingers and didn't care that Dennis and Dudley had called him a baby since he hadn't been the only one that couldn't sleep in a roomful of toys after that for over a week!

"Maybe now you know why your uncle and I don't want you to watch certain things."

The boy nodded figuring he'd listen to her from now on while Petunia had no illusions that the lesson would only last so long before it was forgotten and needed to be relearned. That was how some things worked especially with little boys it seemed.


	2. The Peanut Butter Incident

**THE PEANUTBUTTER INCIDENT - **This incident is mentioned in chapter 8 briefly. This is the complete story of what happened.

**Summer 2004**

"How can you not like peanut butter?" It was asked as if scandalized by the very notion someone not liking the yumminess that was smooshed peanut paste. "Are you sure you're my kid?"

Edward looked at him with a petulant scowl. His tone when he spoke implied that Tony should know how horrid the brown paste was. "It's gross! And it looks like baby poo!"

Tony gave a gasp of mock horror and insult. He'd not really noticed that his kid had yet to have an American staple of a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He'd assumed that Pepper had fed it to him at some point before now when he'd offered him a Reeses. To say that Tony was shocked that the kid had gagged and immediately spat it out with a look of revulsion would be an understatement. At his declaration that the treat was 'foul', had the man asked him about the peanut butter hating.

"Now that's going too far," he told him which had Edward give him an expression of disgust.

"What's with the face?" Pepper wanted to know as she came in with Petunia and Dudley the latter whom had damp hair from his swim earlier. He looked with interest at the discarded sweet on the table as had Petunia who immediately shared a similar expression as her nephew.

"Tony's trying to poison me!"

"Now that's untrue," Tony denied pointing a finger at the six year old . "If I was trying to poison you, I'd feed you vegemite."

"Vegemite isn't that bad," Pepper protested to which her employer gave her the same look that had previously been on his son's face when given peanut butter.

"I might have to begin questioning your taste which before hadn't been in doubt."

"What's vegemite?" Dudley asked as he snaked a hand out to take the sweet his cousin hadn't eaten. Taking a bite he made a face not sure if he liked it or not before deciding that it wasn't _too_ horrible. It wasn't something he would eat if left to his own to pick out sweets however.

"It's horrible nasty stuff that's not allowed in this house," Tony stated matter of fact as he stared at Pepper who gave an exasperated look at his childishness.

Licking his lips with a confused expression, the blond boy looked to his mother. It tasted familiar. Not the chocolate which wasn't anything new, but the peanut butter did. Yet, he couldn't really remember either of his parents feeding it to him nor having it at school. "Have we had this before?"

"No," she replied obviously knowing where her son had eaten the vile substance before. "Your sitter decided it was a bright idea to introduce you to it."

"We don't have a sitter?" Edward tilted his head in confusion. He never remembered having one, or at least not one that wasn't a parent of one of his or Dudley's friends.

A look of distaste crossed his aunt's face. "That's because after the peanut butter incident she was fired."

"That sounds like an interesting story," Tony leaned against the counter with a look of enthusiasm wanting to know more stories about his kid. There was fodder for embarrassing him with when he was older.

* * *

**July 2001**

Petunia and Vernon weren't sure if they were making the right decision but they had wanted to go out and give Elsei a chance at babysitting. She had experience taking care of her younger sister and brother Dennis. Surely she would be able to handle both Dudley and Ned at the same time? She and Vernon would learn that night that a teenager was not the best sitter when it came to the boys. Both at one point or another had realized that having two children only a month apart was at times like having twins. They were just as bad when it came to getting into mischief.

"They'll be fine, won't you?" Eslei asked the two three year olds. She had to hold their hands to keep them from trying to go out the door with the Dursleys who were torn at the forlorn expressions on the children's faces. Once the adults were out the door, the boys began to cry and the teenager tried to distract them knowing that would be the best course of action. It worked with her younger siblings until they realized that their parents would be back.

"I got a treat for you, yeah?" The girl had befriended an exchange student who had introduced her to some American snacks. One of which was peanut butter. Smiling at the boys, she took the jar from her purse since she'd planned on introducing the toddlers to the substance anyways. Going to the kitchen she got a spoon and offered it first to Dudley who was trying to open the jar in his curiosity. Edward was watching but his eyes were straying back to the door more often than not until his cousin got his first taste of the paste.

The phone rang before she could give a taste to Edward. Believing the boys to be fine for the brief time it would take her to answer the telephone she left them in the lounge. She figured maybe they would be receptive of it if she put it on toast for them. Dudley wasn't sure what he thought of the peanut butter, his expression one of perplexion. Naturally, if the blond was getting into something then Edward had to see what it was as well. Sticking his fingers into the goop, he frowned as he pulled them out and played with the peanut butter on his fingers. Not liking the feel of it, he shook his hand trying to get it off before he wiped it on his shorts. His eyes teared up not able to get all of it off. Having put one finger in his mouth he tried to spit it out but couldn't as it stuck to the roof of his mouth and seemed to coat his tongue.

Dudley still unsure took another bite but then decided he'd rather play with the peanut butter likening it to the magic sand that he got to play with at Charlie's house. Edward meanwhile decided that it would be better to use on his blocks as mortar. While he was playing with his blocks building, Dudley began to play with it on the table. So by the time that their sitter came back both boys had the foodstuffs all over their hands, smeared on their clothes, the carpet, and the coffee table.

"How?" Elsei couldn't understand how the boys could have gotten so messy in just minutes! Not even Dennis and her younger sister had wreaked destruction that quickly! Trying to get the boys in the bath was even harder and made more of a mess since each boy tried to escape while she was busy with the other. Dudley had gone as far as to start drawing on the bath wall with his still messy fingers. Neither boy was tired enough for a nap nor would they co-operate for her to herd them and keep them in one place while she tried to clean up the mess. Each time she was able to clean up one mess, the boys had found the peanut butter again and tried to recreate their 'masterpieces'.

Suffice to say the poor teenager was ready to cry by the time that the Dursleys came home. It was also the only time she ever babysat the boys. Whenever they came to play with Dennis she made sure she was absent!


End file.
